Camp Metigoshe

For the last thirty years (not every year of course!) I have had kids going to Camp Metigoshe, a Lutheran Bible camp at Pelican Lake near the Canadian border. This camp was started by a visionary pastor named Mark Ronning in 1961. Its first digs were actually located on Lake Metigoshe, the closest thing I have seen in western or central North Dakota that resembles a Minnesota lake, i.e. trees and lake cottages all around the shoreline.

By the late seventies a plot of land on nearby Pelican Lake was purchased and became the campsite. The original area on Lake Metigoshe became the Christian Center. The Pelican Lake site is now known as "Camp Metigoshe." The combined are called Metigoshe Ministries and are supported by private donations and ELCA churches from the surrounding area.

It is a place like none other. In the course of my six kids I have seen the wonderment of Christ, through the magical medium of dedicated, energetic counsellors, work his way into stubborn little hearts with song, friendship, scripture, acceptance, prayer and just plain fun. This year was no exception.








Five days later we go for the retrieval, and as with the other kids, the first thing out of their mouth is, "I'm comin' back next year!" It never ceases to amaze me how bubbly yet tearful all these kids can be. One would think they had all been ship wrecked on some island for the last twelve years and this was the final final good bye.













I am quite sure this is the first year I have seen the leg and arm work as part of the au revoir. Those legs on the right belong to our little LuLu.





Until next year, the end!